Pace advice - Turkey trot with running stroller.

I ran a 5 k Santa run over the weekend, while pushing both my kids (2 & 4) in a double running stroller or as my wife called it “The party on wheels”. It was a blast, had the stroller decorated with blinking lights and had an external speaker playing festive tunes. I even handed out drink boxes and snack around 3 k! The highlight of the night was when a young fit twenty something looked over at me and kids passing him and he said “How is this even happening!” The kids had a blast and were yelling for me to go faster and pass more Santas. Final time for the 5 k was just shy of 22 minutes.

I made the mistake and started at the back, so I lost a lot of time behind slow runner. This got me thinking, if I do a Turkey trot with the kids what pace should I plan for? I primarily run marathon’s with a PR of 3:14. So what the pace advice?

I've never once thought about pace during a 5k, but always go by effort. First 2k is fast but controlled. Second 2k is fast but a bit painful, final kilometer is all out. I don't see why that would be any different with a stroller, just don't crash or throw up on them.

I made the mistake and started at the back, so I lost a lot of time behind slow runner.

If you have a dog or a stroller (assuming these are allowed in the particular race), please continue to start in the back. This is the policy at every race I've seen that happens to even have a dog or stroller policy. It is also common courtesy to the other paid entrants that are taking up less space than you in the starting area.

Look on the bright side...it just gives you more people for the kids to enjoy passing. If you are running with the stroller, it should be fun. Don't try to PR...save that for a different race.

I made the mistake and started at the back, so I lost a lot of time behind slow runner.

If you have a dog or a stroller (assuming these are allowed in the particular race), please continue to start in the back. This is the policy at every race I've seen that happens to even have a dog or stroller policy. It is also common courtesy to the other paid entrants that are taking up less space than you in the starting area.

Look on the bright side...it just gives you more people for the kids to enjoy passing. If you are running with the stroller, it should be fun. Don't try to PR...save that for a different race.

NaT I finished 11th overall out of 600. I understand what you are saying about dogs and strollers, but my opinion is it is safer to seed yourself appropriately whether or not you are pushing a stroller. Obviously if this was a large chip timed race with plenty of faster runners, it would be a different conversation. But for smaller local races seeding appropriately is safer. A dog is totally different than a stroller, since dogs have their own brain. The biggest issue was the race was gun timed, so those of use at the back got shut out of the prizes.

Ilanarama, I'm looking at 5 k with the stroller. Had so much fun with the kids, I starting to wonder how fast we could go. If I could run a 19 min 5 k solo, could I break 20 min with the double wide?

My main objection is that I'd be pretty annoyed if someone tried to line up in front of me with a stroller at a race. I'll concede that if you will be starting out quickly it is safer not to be in the back where you would be mowing down slow runners, but the solution to that would be to not take the fun run too seriously and save the racing for awards for another day!

Well, I would think the thing to do is to look at your 5K workouts vs your time and see how your paces line up doing the workouts with the stroller! I bet your kids would love doing intervals with you...

A friend of mine ran a 16:48 5k pushing his 2 year old in a stroller, he could run about 15 minutes flat sans stroller, so I guess you would want to add about 45-60 seconds per mile for stroller pushing.

My main objection is that I'd be pretty annoyed if someone tried to line up in front of me with a stroller at a race.

This is kind of how I feel as well, but it might just be because I'm kid averse, which isn't really all that relevant to other people. I think the easiest thing to do is move relatively close to the front and ask a few people what kind of times they're shooting for. It sounds like Andy's pretty much never going to actually be holding anyone up in a local race though!

The problem with starting near the front with a stroller is not simply what pace you are going to run, it is maneuverability. It is probably safer to start right on the line if you aren't expecting to get passed by more than a few people, or at the back and wait for the crowd to thin out. If there is a sudden change of pace or swerving runners in the middle pack during the start (which can be pretty common) you cannot react as well pushing a stroller. You are then putting others in serious risk of getting hurt. I would say start near the back and get moving fast when you can. If you want to really race and be up on the line, do that without the kids.

As a race director I instruct all people with dogs and strollers to start in the back. According to my race rules I don't allow either dogs or strollers, but I am loath to tell people they can't run at all.

The problem with starting near the front with a stroller is not simply what pace you are going to run, it is maneuverability. It is probably safer to start right on the line if you aren't expecting to get passed by more than a few people, or at the back and wait for the crowd to thin out. If there is a sudden change of pace or swerving runners in the middle pack during the start (which can be pretty common) you cannot react as well pushing a stroller. You are then putting others in serious risk of getting hurt. I would say start near the back and get moving fast when you can. If you want to really race and be up on the line, do that without the kids.

As a race director I instruct all people with dogs and strollers to start in the back. According to my race rules I don't allow either dogs or strollers, but I am loath to tell people they can't run at all.

I hear you loud and clear. Seems like I need to choose whether I want to race or whether I'm there just for fun.

I have started at the front with a double stroller in a few races where I was racing hard and placing very high. I would shoot off and get well ahead of people therefore making myself less of a hassard at the start.

If you are going to be run 22 minutes or less with a stroller then for sure start at the front. If a person is walking or running slowly with a stroller then start at the back.

Running with a stroller only slows me down by 5 to 10 seconds per km. Sometimes more if there is a big uphill.

I have started at the front with a double stroller in a few races where I was racing hard and placing very high. I would shoot off and get well ahead of people therefore making myself less of a hassard at the start.

If you are going to be run 22 minutes or less with a stroller then for sure start at the front. If a person is walking or running slowly with a stroller then start at the back.

Running with a stroller only slows me down by 5 to 10 seconds per km. Sometimes more if there is a big uphill.

This is a jerk move. A person with a stroller takes up a lot of space on the line. A double-wide is harder to pass. Placing high is often a relative measure since only a small percentage of race participants are actually trying very hard and/or trained enough to put forth much of an effort.

I'm sometimes accused of being a bit of a purist, but there are some important safety considerations (not to mention basic racing etiquette) if you're going to be trying to run fast while pushing a stroller, especially if the road is at all crowded.

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